A Thunder of Drums

 

This 1961 film stars Richard Boone as a hardened cavalry officer and George Hamilton as the fresh lieutenant with much to learn.

What drew me to this, initially, was the supporting role played by Charles Bronson, but, I must admit, this was a bit of a letdown as he plays against type as a lazy recruit with a mindless chuckle.

Didn’t quite work for this viewer.

But we do have a script by James Warner Bellah based on his superlative story, “Command.”

The cavalry aspects of the script have an authentic snap to them but, unfortunately the non-military elements are middle-grade soap opera.

What does shine here is Richard Boone. Tough. Wise. Authoritative.

If there is a reason to view this B-Western he is it.

Superlative performance.